Portable media technology has steadily improved for many years. One highly recognized form is that of the floppy disk. More recently, the use of floppy disks has been overtaken by USB (Universal Serial Bus) Flash technology. Portable media drives employing flash technology make available a wide range of storage capacities, each in a compact physical form that users find immensely convenient. However, a given portable media drive possesses a limited and inflexible capacity. Reaching the full capacity of the portable media drive compels the user to delete other files, or to acquire additional drive space.
Furthermore, the loss or theft of the portable media drive presents the user with a painful consequence of its compact form. And, while the portable media drive itself is generally quite reliable, files can be lost or compromised due to the failure of the portable media drive. In some cases, the files stored on the portable media drive can be replaced, but the loss or theft of the drive poses a serious threat to personal privacy and to corporate security. Furthermore, the user may not become immediately aware that files stored on the portable media drive had been lost or compromised.
For example, suppose a business person is preparing to travel to another city to deliver an important presentation to a potential customer. Important files cannot always be sent ahead via email or disk because there may be no appropriate contact person to receive them or the presentation may require critical last minutes updates. Moreover, transferring files electronically may not be possible because the needed network resources at the customer site are not accessible to the business person. Furthermore, the business person may not wish to transfer copies of sensitive information (e.g. pricing or product details) to the potential customer before the presentation. In these cases, storing the presentation files on portable media drive makes them easily transported and also permits them to be accessed and modified. Unfortunately, the business person risks losing or compromising the files because of the risks inherent in the use of a conventional portable media drive.